Livingston’s return to the Scottish Premiership is redolent of a scene from an old black and white cowboy movie.
The tall mysterious stranger walks into the saloon. As the doors swing open, the pianist stops playing. The revelry turns to silence as everyone turns to stare.
Outwith West Lothian, the welcome being afforded to David Martindale’s men for reclaiming a place at the game’s most selective party might only be marginally warmer than that reserved for an out of towner in the Wild West.
They felt the stony silence when they walked into the room last time. They’re aware that they’ve not won any popularity contests with fans of other clubs in the interim. And, as far as they are concerned, that is absolutely fine.
‘It’s all over and we make our way back to the top flight,’ said a post on the club’s official X account when the full-time whistle at Dingwall sounded on Monday. ‘Not liked. Not wanted. Not bothered.’
While football by its very nature is adversarial, some of the flak that flew the way of the account’s administrator was striking.
Robbie Muirhead gives Macauley Tait a lift after helping propel Livi back to the top flight
Jamie Brandon, Davie Martindale and Ryan McGowan celebrate Livingston’s play-off triumph
Livingston players get the party started in the away dressing after their win in Dingwall
One Aberdeen fan claimed he’d have gladly forgone seeing his side win the Scottish Cup had it meant no trips to Almondvale next season. A Celtic supporter said they were the most ‘tin pot’ club in the land.
Amid a litany of such salutations, a Partick Thistle fan suggested they should have been prevented from going up purely on account of their fanbase. The Lions, it can safely be stated, are about as welcome in these parts as a punch in the throat.
This outright hostility does feel a little over the score. When Gretna arrived in the top flight in 2007, the accompanying narrative was that it was a fairytale.
Yet, they had no ground that was compatible with regulations, a truly paltry support and — as it eventually transpired — no money to honour their players’ contracts. Where was their malice?
Since then, we’ve seen clubs such as Hamilton and Inverness Caledonian Thistle joust with the giants. Both sides played their matches at grounds with supporters only housed on three sides. That’s not the case at Livingston’s home.
With a capacity of 9,713, Almondvale may be — in the parlance of estate agents — compact and bijou. But, unlike the lop-sided Falkirk Stadium (holding 7,937), it is symmetrical.
Muirhead celebrates making it 3-2 to put the West Lothian side ahead in the tie
Livi are also hardly the first club to make it this far with a modest fanbase. They drew an average home crowd of just 3,889 in 2023-24. Yet, in the season just ended, Ross County had 4,353 and St Johnstone 5,579. It’s hardly a gargantuan difference.
Based just 19 miles from Edinburgh, Livingston is a town of 55,836 people, many of whom supported the big city clubs when their local side was a works team called Ferranti Thistle.
If Livingston’s League Cup triumph in 2004 wasn’t going to drag them away from Tynecastle or Easter Road on a Saturday, then the subsequent financial turmoil which saw them demoted to the bottom tier certainly wasn’t going to win over any hearts and minds.
The themes of Livingston’s story this century include ambition, the perils of over-stretching, overcoming adversity and redemption. Throw in winning a major trophy and a season playing European football and there’s a good book in there somewhere if only there was a demand for it.
David Martindale’s life story is worthy of a weighty tome in itself. In 2006, he served four years in prison for his part in a drug-dealing and money-laundering operation.
He enrolled at Heriot-Watt University and, upon his release, got his foot on the coaching ladder and became Livingston’s manager in 2020.
Martindale has weaved a special brand of magic in leading his side back to the Premiership
He’s never sought to play down the seriousness of the crimes which landed him a lengthy custodial sentence. Quite the opposite, in fact. He has, unquestionably, made the most the second chance he’s been given in life. Say what you like about Martindale as a person — and many still do — but his credentials as a football manager are hugely impressive.
When Livi went down a year ago, you wondered if his days in the dug-out were numbered. The Championship is the most competitive league in the country. There is no guarantee that any side dropping into it simply bounces straight back.
In the past 13 seasons, 15 teams have taken the drop. Only eight have succeeded in immediately regaining their top-flight status.
Against all the odds, Martindale has earned the right to again pit his wits against Brendan Rodgers, Derek McInnes and company when August arrives. He’s a survivor.
‘Last season was difficult, but the club stood by me,’ he said. ‘I think I had credit in the bank from what I’d done.’
What he did to ensure the club was only exiled from the big time for a single season proved that he’s more than just a ball-of-fire motivator who knows how to make a side hard to beat.
Livingston won the League Cup in 2004 but have also endured plenty hardship since then
Rather than doubling down on the physical, in-your-face approach which had won his club no friends in their last stay in the Premiership, the 50-year-old changed the style of play.
Martindale recruited the skilful Lewis Smith to play in front of the cultured Danny Wilson. He drafted in experience in Ryan McGowan and Stevie May, goals in Robbie Muirhead and hunger in Robbie Fraser and Macauley Tait, who joined on loan from Rangers and Hearts, respectively.
The reshaped side worked every bit as hard as his previous creations. But their approach was much easier on the eye.
‘They’ve reinvented themselves,’ said former Livingston boss John Robertson. ‘This is what one year in the Championship has allowed them to do.
‘Martindale’s recruited really good football players. They play good football, which is not something you associate with a Livingston team who’ve had to find a way to stay in the league for six years.’
Tete Yengi jumps for joy after putting the icing on the promotion cake with a killer fourth goal
Another thing will be different next season. While the much-maligned plastic pitch isn’t being replaced with grass, it is being ripped up with the latest generation of MX Elite — apparently the best artificial surface money can buy — then being put down.
Whether Livingston, Falkirk or Kilmarnock are minded to challenge the top flight’s ban on synthetic surfaces from 2026 remains to be seen.
One thing we do know is that — new-style or not — when it all kicks off again, there won’t be any rose petals being scattered in front of Martindale’s side wherever they go.
Until the day arrives when the SPFL hand out bonus points for popularity, that won’t cost them a single minute’s sleep.
